Palarong Pambansa 2024 green solutions: Tumblers for athletes

Elyzza May Salinas of Central Visayas leads the pack in the qualifying heat of the 100-meter hurdles for secondary girls at the Davao del Norte sports complex in Tagum City during the 2017 Palarong Pambansa. [CDN FILE PHOTO/LITO TECSON]

CEBU CITY, Philippines – In an effort to reduce single-use plastic waste, the athletes for the Palarong Pambansa this coming July will be using tumblers instead of disposable water bottles.

This came after Cebu City signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of Education (DepEd), according to Cebu City Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia on Monday, June 24.

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Garcia said during a press conference on Monday that having tumblers would be beneficial as there would be no need to use plastic bottles because it would only end up polluting areas like rivers.

“So it’s good that we are giving out these tumblers to be environmentally friendly. And we want to show to people that we are aware of such and that we are practicing [as] such well,” Garcia said.

The acting mayor also added that the city government would purchase the tumblers and that it would be DepEd who would distribute them to athletes.

In an interview with the Sugbuanon channel on Thursday, June 20, the Assistant Superintendent of DepEd Cebu City, Adolf Aguilar, said that the use of water bottles by athletes would be discouraged during the event.

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“[As such] the City Government decided to provide each athlete with a tumbler to minimize the use of [plastic] bottles, provide hygiene kits para dili na mogasto ang ginikanan na mopalit og (so that the parents would no longer spend for) shampoo, sabon, toothbrush, for the whole week,” Aguilar added.

In addition to cutting down on plastic waste during the games, DepEd would lower athletes’ costs by providing foam, pillows, and blankets for sleeping as well as hygiene kits.

According to officials, the delegates would receive food from DepEd and the city government, but they would also have access to designated cooking areas where they could make their food.